BC Books Online was created for anyone interested in BC-published books, and with librarians especially in mind. We'd like to make it easy for library staff to learn about books from BC publishers - both new releases and backlist titles - so you can inform your patrons and keep your collections up to date.
Our site features print books and ebooks - both new releases and backlist titles - all of which are available to order through regular trade channels. Browse our subject categories to find books of interest or create and export lists by category to cross-reference with your library's current collection.
A quick tip: When reviewing the "Browse by Category" listings, please note that these are based on standardized BISAC Subject Codes supplied by the books' publishers. You will find additional selections, grouped by theme or region, in our "BC Reading Lists."
Finalist for Bill Duthie Booksellers' Choice Prize (BC Book Prizes); Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis Award; City of Vancouver Book Award
When forty-year-old Esther Castellani died a slow and agonizing death in Vancouver in 1965, the official cause was at first undetermined. The day after Esther's funeral, her husband, Rene, packed up his girlfriend, Lolly; his daughter, Jeannine; and Lolly's son, Don, in the company car and took off for Disneyland. If not for the doggedness of the doctor who treated Esther, Rene, then a charismatic and handsome CKNW radio personality, would have been free to marry Lolly, who was the station's pretty twentysomething receptionist. Instead, Rene was charged with capital murder for poisoning his wife with arsenic-laced milkshakes in one of British Columbia's most sensational criminal cases of the century.
Murder by Milkshake is the compelling story of the Castellanis, and of their daughter, Jeannine, who was eleven at the time of her mother's murder and who clung to her father's innocence, even committing perjury during his trial. Rigorously researched, and based on dozens of interviews with family, friends, and co-workers, Murder by Milkshake documents the sensational case that kept Vancouver spellbound, while providing a snapshot of the city's Mad Men-esque social and political realities in the 1960s.
Eve Lazarus has done an exceptional job of reporting one of the most shocking and fascinating murder stories in Vancouver history. Her research is outstanding. -George Garrett, CKNW radio reporter (retired)
Not only a compelling insight into the methodical detective work of a 1960s homicide investigation but also a revealing exposé of one of the most high-profile crimes in Vancouver history. -Superintendent Mike Porteous, Vancouver Police Department
Eve Lazarus has written a chilling and highly readable story full of fascinating characters. Well done. -Dr. Heather Burke, forensic psychologist
Deeply researched, Eve Lazarus has done everything short of getting up on top of the BowMac sign herself to get to the heart of the story behind the notorious Rene Castellani, whose crime is still one of the most unbelievable, strange, and remarkable chapters in Vancouver crime history. This isn't a murder mystery story in the traditional sense; Lazarus reveals a greater mystery about the motivations and actions of a criminal, how deeply the crime affected the innocent around him, the legacy of which plays out to this day. -Aaron Chapman, author of The Last Gang in Town and Liquor, Lust, and the Law